District Man Pleads Guilty to Murder
In 2011 Slaying in Southeast Washington-Victim’s Father Pleads Guilty to Tampering With Evidence at the Scene-

WASHINGTON – William Faison, 23, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to second-degree murder while armed in the slaying of 19-year-old Jeffrey Covington during an attempted robbery in Southeast Washington, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced

Faison entered his plea in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The Honorable Ronna Lee Beck scheduled sentencing for Aug. 16, 2013.

In a related development, the victim’s father, Jeffrey Blount, 43, also of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to tampering with physical evidence at the scene of the murder. He is to be sentenced on Aug. 15, 2013.

According to the government’s evidence, on July 2, 2011, Jeffrey Blount and his son were involved in a craps game in the 600 block of 46th Place SE. Shortly after 1 a.m., Faison, who was nearby, approached Blount while pulling a .38-caliber revolver from his waistband.

Faison pushed Mr. Covington aside to get to Blount and pointed the gun at Blount’s back in an attempt to rob him. Nearly everyone involved in the craps game, including Blount, fled. Faison chased after Blount, with his gun still drawn. Mr. Covington attempted to come to the aid of his father by pointing an inoperable weapon at Faison. Faison then turned back toward the victim and fired one shot at him, fatally striking him in the upper chest/throat.

Faison then fled into an apartment in a building on the block. Police sought and obtained a search warrant for that apartment on July 2, 2011, and they recovered a .38-caliber revolver with a spent shell casing inside. Faison was still in the apartment at the time of the recovery.

Following the murder, Blount returned to the scene, approached Mr. Covington’s body, and attempted to remove currency from Mr. Covington’s pockets. He then checked the victim’s pulse before moving the inoperable pistol from the victim’s side to a nearby trash can.

In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Machen praised the work of the detectives, officers, and crime scene technicians who investigated the case for the Metropolitan Police Department. He also commended the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists Phaylyn Hunt, Fern Rhedrick, and Kendra Johnson and Victim/Witness Advocate Marcia Rinker. Finally, U.S. Attorney Machen recognized Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melinda A. Williams, Jeffrey Pearlman, and Erik Kenerson, who investigated and prosecuted the case.